The Truth Isn't What You'd Expect
by MSPJO22
Summary: When the truth comes out about someone close to Annabeth, how will she, her family, and camp react? Sorry it didn't have Matthew and Bobby Chase on the character list, but there's also Percy and Annabeth, so here y'go! Three-shot.
1. Chapter 1: A Mission

**Hi guys. We've got some unexpected news. All of Thalia's friends are coming together and writing a story - this one - , both boys and girls! Who would've expected that?!**

**Okay, so I suppose that's not such a big deal to you, but in our neighborhood, we've had a Girls vs. Boys thing going for years. And I mean that in the least sexist way. Thanx. Anyway, this is dedicated to Thalia, whom we all hope will get up soon.**

**Post HoO.**

**R&R!**

**~Avery, Luke, Corey, Amalie, Zane and Sam**

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**(Annabeth's POV)**

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I entered our house. You see, since I came back after the war, my stepmother, Susan, and I became quite close. She's actually really nice, but she used to hate me because I attracted monsters and she didn't want Matthew and Bobby getting hurt. Now that I can defend myself, she treats me like I'm her own child.

My step-brothers, Bobby and Matthew, look like their mother in some ways, but in others they are nothing like either of their parents. They have salt-and-pepper hair, which neither Susan or my dad have, but they have Susan's warm chocolate-brown eyes. The twins are always so mischievous, they remind me of the Stoll brothers, except that the two are twins.

On the topic of Camp, I have some good news. The gods and goddesses took pity and felt for the demigods that sacrificed themselves in the Giant War to protect Olympus, so they let some come back if they wanted- granted that they took and oath on the Styx that they would never turn to the enemy side.

That's great, because now we have Beckendorf, Silena, Micheal, and even Bianca back. There are many more, though. However, Luke didn't want to come back for fear that he would be wrongly influenced again. I have to admit, I kind of miss him. On the bright side, after the others came back, they said that Luke wanted them to deliver an apology to Percy and hope that they could become friends.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Susan yelled back as I started up the stairs. "Oh, and could you pick up Matt and Bobby on your way back from the Science Museum **(A/N: You really should check out the California Academy of Science, it's really cool.)**? They're just at school for detention because they pranked the teacher _again."_

I groaned. Recently, Bobby and Matthew have gone on a pranking streak. Whenever Dad asked Susan about why the sudden change in behavior (they used to be all perfect-little-boy-ish), she would blanch and shake her head, saying 'I don't know. You ask them.', but whenever he asked them, they just said, 'We felt like it.' "Do I really want to know what they did this time?" I asked, after setting my stuff down in my room.

Susan laughed from the kitchen. "No, probably not. I hope they stop this fooling around soon; they need to focus on their schoolwork and studies. They're in seventh grade, for goodness sake! What did you do in seventh grade, Annbeth dear?"

I laughed at that. "I don't know, that was six years ago. I think I was at Camp year-round then, so actually, I was training."

"Well, what did you do in your spare time?"

"Um," I thought about it. "Well, I think I was designing stuff, y'know, a better Camp."

I could practically see her half-smile. "Not about Percy?" she asked slyly.

I blushed. "No! He wasn't there when I was ten. He came when we were twelve. Anyway, I've got to finish my homework before I swing by the museum. Talk to you more over dinner," I called.

"Oh, alright," she sighed, "But I'll be waiting!" she added.

Just then, my cell phone rang. I looked at the Caller ID: Seaweed Brain. Did I tell you about Leo's cell phone design? I don't think so. Well, anyway, Leo (the one and only Repair Boy) designed a new phone that demigods could use without getting tracked. It also had a laser, satellite, retina display, unlimited data, calling minutes, etc., and a custom-made case. Mine was gray with an owl carved into it, and on the bottom, it had _Wise Girl+Seaweed Brain_. Everybody thought is was cute. Percy's had a picture of me and him on the back, and the same thing inscribed on the bottom. His was sea green with royal and navy blue trimmings.

I let it ring for a moment, and then I picked up.

"Hey Perce, what's up?"

"Annabeth!"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out."

He laughed. Gods, I loved that laugh... "Chiron has a quest for you. More like a mission, but whatever."

"Then why didn't he call me himself?"

"Oh yeah. I better hang up, or else he'll get the 'busy' voicemail. Love you!"

"Love you too, Seaweed Brain! Gods, I miss you."

"I miss you too. I'll see you soon."

"Wait.. what?"

He chuckled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm coming to San Fran for a little while to help you with the 'assignment' that Chiron has for us. Grover, Nico, and Thalia are coming too!"

I choked. Literally. A full-out choke. Okay, sure, I didn't have anything in my mouth at the time, but hey, I can still dry choke, can't I?

"Um, Wise Girl? Are you okay? It's not like you have another boyfriend there or something, right?"

I actually laughed at that. He sounded so worried. "'Course not, Seaweed Brain. You fell in Tartarus for me; I'd never leave you or cheat on you!"

I could hear him smile. "'Kay, good. Uh-oh, gotta go. Chiron's glaring at me. Bye!" and the the line went dead. Not five seconds later, it rang again. This time, the Caller ID read _Chiron_.

"Hi, Chiron. Percy tells me you've got a mission for us."

"Hello Annabeth! He is quite right. I'll get straight to the point. Satyrs in the Bay Area have detected three powerful demigods in the Bay Area, one of which I know is you. The two others are related, we can tell you that much. They aren't any older than thirteen, otherwise the gods will have sent me or Rachel a sign. The satyrs around you, especially Mark and Jasper, constantly tell me that you have a connection to these two young demigods. Your scent is too strong to be only one demigod, that is, unless you are a child of the big three- which, we both know you aren't."

"So you're saying that you're sending the Savior of Olympus, the Ghost King, the Luitenant of Artemis, and the Lord of the Wild to help me find two demigods that you're saying _I actually know_, but don't know they're demigods?"

"Exactly."

"Okay. So when are they going to get here?"

"Should be about anytime now. Nico's shadow traveling everyone."

"Where do I-" I was cut off by the shadows under my desk seemingly bending. Then there was a large popping noise, and suddenly, instead of one, there were five people in my room.

"Nevermind. They're here. Talk to you later, Chiron. Bye!" and then I hung up. I looked at the four people in my room.

Percy was wearing a green hoodie over his t-shirt, which I couldn't see. He was wearing black jeans and blue Vans.

Nico, being his emo self, had an oversized black leather aviator's jacket, black skinny jeans, and black shoes. His Stygian Iron sword hung off of his jeans.

Grover wore a 'Save the Earth' tee and loose light blue Levi's, white converse over his fake feet, and a beanie (his horns had grown too big for his rasta cap).

Thalia had a silver jacket, a 'Death to Barbie' graphic tee, black skinny jeans, and black converse. She wore Aegis (in bracelet form) on her wrist, and on her head was the silver tiara that signified her ranking as Luitenant of Artemis. She grinned at me.

"Annie!" she yelled, lunging forward and knocking me over. Two seconds later Susan came bursting into my room with a frying pan raised above her head. When she saw Thalia, Percy, and Grover, she lowered her pan. However, when she saw Nico, she raised it again. Oops. I don't think I told her about Nico.

"Oh, uh, hi mom." I said.

Susan was still looking at Nico.

"Hello, Grover, Thalia, Percy. And may I ask who this is?"

"Mom, this is Nico di Angelo. He's thirteen, but in reality he's about seventy."

Susan looked at me with a bewildered expression.

"Lotus Casino," Thalia piped up, as if that explained everything.

Susan nodded. "Oh, okay, that's fine. How did you get here?"

"That was Nico."

"So he drove you here, underaged, and then you crawled through the window?"

"Son of Hades, at your service. And no, I didn't drive. I shadow traveled. Oh, you know, using shadows to 'teleport' to another place..."

"Mmkay. Well, dinner's ready! Wait a minute... why are you all here?"

We filled her in on the details. Her face paled.

"Mom? Do you know something?"

"If this mission is absolutely crucial, then yes. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier. But you can't tell your father," Susan said, looking depressed.

I raised an eyebrow, while the others leaned in to hear her as her voice had dropped to a whisper.

"It's..."

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**Ooh, cliffie!**

**So, how is it? If it's good, review. If it's not, review anyway. Don't blame us if it's bad... this is almost literally the first time we've worked together. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**~Amalie, Corey, Zane, Sam, Luke, and Avery.**


	2. Chapter 2: Discovering and Pizza

**Oh hai guyz! Sam and Amalie here. The others are outside on the lawn having a snowball fight. So we were bored and came up here to write this.**

**It might be a little lame, 'cause Luke and Zane are outside, but enjoy anyway.**

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**(Thalia's POV)**

"It's your brothers, Annabeth."

We just stared at her, only partly understanding what she meant.

"Mom? What about Bobby and Matthew? They're just in detention; they are all the time. And it has nothing to do with our mission. Give us a straight answer!" Annabeth insisted.

Susan shook her head. "The demigods, Annabeth. They're your brothers."

My jaw dropped. "What!?" I shrieked, my bow clattering to the ground.

Susan's head was hanging now. She looked really sad. "Annabeth, you're not the only reason monsters were attacking us. That's why there were also monsters coming after Matthew and Bobby. I'm so sorry. I- I just didn't want to hurt you or your father. I'm sorry."

Annabeth was fuming. "YOU EXPECT ME TO FORGIVE YOU AFTER THIS!? YOU DISSED ME, YELLED AT ME, DROVE ME AWAY BECAUSE I WAS A DEMIGOD, AND NOW YOU'RE SAYING THAT MATTHEW AND BOBBY ARE TOO? ARGH!" she threw a book on the floor and punched Percy's shoulder.

"Annabeth..." Percy whispered, wrapping an arm around her. Her gaze immediately softened, and she sunk into Percy's embrace.

I, on the other hand, was also fuming. "So now what?" I snarled. "Do you really expect any of us to forgive you? You kicked out a seven-year-old, who had nothing but an iron hammer, onto the streets by her own, because she was different. But in reality, she wasn't different. Your sons, those ones that you spoiled, were just like her. Just like the reason you kicked _her_ out. That," I whispered, "is not acceptable. Nico, let's go." I turned toward the emo guy sitting on the bed, talking to Grover.

"Huh?" he looked up. "Oh... yeah. We'd better get out of here."

I took his hand, who took Grover's, who took Percy's, who had an arm wrapped around Annabeth. Her face was red an puffy. She glared at Susan one last time, who was still looking depressed.

Nico cleared his throat. "So, where to?"

Annabeth looked up. "Benson Middle School."

"Alright guys, get ready. Three... two... one-"

"WAIT!"

We all just looked at Annabeth, who had just yelled out. She looked at Susan. I narrowed my eyes, thinking that she was going to apologize, for which I knew she shouldn't. It was all Susan's fault.

Gladly, she just asked, "Who is their father?"

Susan looked up, a guilty look etched across her face. "He... he was a messenger. He came twice... The first was Matthew and Bobby. The second... the second didn't work out. He had a stronger personality then."

_Hermes._ I thought. _No wonder they act like a mini Travis and Connor. And... Luke._

Annabeth nodded. "Okay. Benson, Nico!"

Said boy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying... One!"

And then the world turned black, flipped upside down for a moment, until I heard a loud _pop!_ and we were standing against a tree tike idiots, holding hands.

I quickly let go of Nico's hand, wiping it on my jeans. I said a brief apology to Artemis for having contact with a male. I suppose, since I wasn't turned into an animal and Artemis didn't appear, that I was forgiven.

I sprinted toward Annabeth; she had begun to run toward the nearest building doors. Next to it, I could make out the letters MPR, which I'm guessing stood for Multi-Purpose Room.

We jogged through the open doors and to the back of the room, which had a door that lead to the office (there was a sign). In the office, we took a series of twists and turns around corners and through hallways (it seemed as though Annabeth did this a lot lately). We finally stopped at a pair of wooden doors, and inside was a bunch of kids chatting and laughing. I immediately recognized the salt-and-pepper hair of the Chase twins.

"Matthew! Bobby! We're going!" Annabeth yelled. Their heads shot up and they grinned.

"Yes, ma'am!" One shouted, saluting.

The other grinned and yelled, "TO OZ!" and sprinted past us, the other following. I swear, they were like the younger duplicates of Connor and Travis. Remind me not to introduce them when we get to camp.

Currently we were running through the hallways, gaining on the twins. When we reached them, I grabbed a shirt, pulled back, and lifted up until I had a seventh-grade dangling from my hand.

He yelped. "Bobby, help me down!"

I looked over at Annabeth and she had Bobby dangling too. We slung them over our shoulders and carried them out, them pounding on our back the whole way. We just grinned at each other and tried not to laugh.

Unfortunately, our attempts failed. As soon as we reached our destination (where the others were) we set them down and fell to the floor in a fit of laugher. Grover made the mistake of reading our emotions and burst out laughing, which cause Percy to start laughing, too. Nico's grin was getting larger, until he too finally burst into chuckles. It may've seemed odd a while ago; to see Nico laughing, but since Bianca came back he's been really nice.

We stayed there for a while, Bobby and Matthew glaring at us, until I remembered what Susan had said. I stopped laughing and soon everyone else had too, giving me curious looks. I mouthed _Hermes_, and everyone understood.

Annabeth cleared her throat and looked straight at the twins. "Matt... Bobby. I know that even when I wasn't home monsters came after you. I also know that someone put up a barrier to stop them from getting in. We have something to tell you."

Matt and Bobby started whispering to each other. Bobby looked curious, but Matt just fingered a chain around his neck, a suspicious expression on his face.

Percy blurted out, "Your father isn't Mr. Chase. It's Hermes."

Matt nodded and his face cleared. Bobby, on the other hand, paled and clutched Matt for support.

"Wha- but- no! You're lying! Annabeth, tell us he's lying!"

She shook her head sadly. "Sorry, Bobby. It's the truth."

Said boy looked at Matt with another curious expression. "Why aren't you surprised at all, Matt?"

The seventh grader sat down and sighed. "Dad visited me a couple of years ago. It was when you were at Outdoor ED **(A/N: If you don't know what that is, it's when fifth graders go on a three to five day trip out of school [with no parents except a couple chaperones] to learn about the outdoors)**. He gave me this."

Matt pulled off the chain that he was fingering earlier. He removed the metal bar on the back, that acted as a clasp. As soon as it was removed, the string transformed into a hand-and-a-half two-and-a-half-foot gold sword.

We gasped. Bobby backed into the tree behind him.

"Matthew..." I heard Annabeth whisper.

Nico stepped forward. "May I see that?"

Matt nodded and handed him the sword and Nico swung it around expertly. We could hear him muttering things like 'Imperial Gold,' 'specially crafted,' 'surprisingly light,' and - more often than the others - the good ol' 'huh.'

He nodded and handed the sword back to Matthew, who slipped the metal bar from earlier into a hole in the bottom of the hilt (that had gone unnoticed before) and turning the sword back into a necklace.

Then Nico turned to Bobby, who had calmed down somewhat. Out of thin air, Nico retrieved a small black dagger. "Stygian iron," he told Bobby, "Be careful. Imperial gold and Celestial bronze may not hurt mortals, but this can harm both. Use it well."

The young boy nodded, grabbed the dagger and started looking around for something to sheath it. Nico chuckled and pulled out a small leather sheath with a large leather strap on it. He motioned for Bobby to extend his arm, which he did. Nico then placed the dagger in the sheath, strapped the sheath to the boy's arm, and stepped back.

"Mortals won't be able to see the dagger. To them, it should look like a pedometer."

Bobby grinned hugely. "Thanks, uh..."

Nico chuckled. "The name's Nico."

The seventh grader looked at Nico, examining his features. His brow furrowed. "You're a son of..."

Nico mock bowed. "Son of Hades, at your service." He got up and smiled, extending a hand toward Bobby. "C'mon, kid, we've got to go."

Bobby looked at Nico questioningly, as if to ask, _Hold your hand? Are you gay or something?_

The son of Hades laughed and shook his head. "No, we're just shadow traveling. You know, using shadows to get to other places."

Bobby nodded, took Nico's and Matthew's hands, Matt took Annabeth's, who took mine. On the other side of the chain, Percy took Nico's hand and Grover grabbed onto Percy's wrist. Then the world spun, and I couldn't breathe. It was worse than how we got here. About five seconds later, we popped out in a place that I recognized was in New York City.

Bobby and Matthew promptly asked, in unison, "What are we doing here, Annie?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at the nickname, and said, "Well, you're demigods, right? So you've got to go to camp. We're taking you to Camp Half-Blood."

Matthew nodded, but Bobby looked bewildered.

Matt, noticing Bobby's facial expression, said, "That's where Annie goes over the summer. Half-Blood means half god, half human. Dad told me,"

I looked around and realized where we were. "ANTONIO'S PIZZERIA!" I yelled. Annabeth, Percy, and Nico burst out laughing, and soon, we all were. "S-sorry," I choked out. "I was hungry,"

Percy yelled, "Me too!"

"I am too. Would you like to go eat pizza, kind sirs and young ladies?" Nico bowed, gesturing to the door. I pulled him up.

"Oh, cut it out, Nico! We're starving here!"

Once again, Bobby and Matthew yelled, "TO OZ!"

This time, we all linked arms, and together, we yelled back, "TO OZ!"

And then we skipped through the doors of the pizzeria, much to the dismay of the owner and manager.

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**You likee? Yay! Special thanks to Apollo's Child for her complete and utter awesomeness. :D**

**R&R!**

**~Sam and Amalie**


	3. Chapter 3: Camp

**Sorry, guys. I don't know where I was going with this story from them getting to camp, so it's just going to be a three-shot.**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, Silena, Beckendorf, Zoë, Bianca, hell, even Michael Yew would still be alive. Luke and Ethan wouldn't be evil. Annabeth would get more credit for coaxing Luke out from behind Kronos, rather than Jackson getting all of the credit. Enough clues? No? Fine. I don't own Percy Jackson, his friends, or his sorry butt.**

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**Third Person**

Twenty minutes, a stink bomb, the loss of three large bags of flour, and one very, _very_ pissed off manager later, seven teenagers stumbled out of a pizzeria in New York City, laughing and clutching at their stomachs.

Thalia was sucking in huge lungfuls of air, but using it up by the second with her laughter. Annabeth leaned against Percy, who was getting support from a tree in a planter. Grover was letting out bleats occasionally, but remained silently snickering. The Chase twins (or, as the others liked to call them, the Mini-Stolls™) didn't even try to control their laughing. They were rolling on the sidewalks, tears streaming down their faces, fingers raking the ground. Even Nico had collapsed on a bench, unable to hide his chuckles.

Somehow, Thalia managed to get some words in. "Best.. *gasp* prank.. *laugh* EVER! Better than the... *gasp* Stolls!" And then she started guffawing again.

Unable to say anything, the other six just nodded.

Ten minutes later, the seven were trying (and failing) to conceal their laughter with straight faces. They hailed a cab, and the driver looked at them funny. "You kids sure you got 'nuff money?"

Annabeth nodded, and said, "Yeah." then she realized something. "Hey, Nico, why didn't you just take us there?"

"Oh, um yeah..." she said, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, yeah! Well, I was hungry, and that was hard, y'know, Cali to York... so I don't have the energy to."

Annabeth nodded, they pulled to door to the cab open, and they piled in. Nico demonstrated his newfound skill: Summoning metals. At the first red light, a bar of gold popped up at Thalia's feet. She picked it up and marveled the size.

At the second red light, another gold bar popped up in front of Bobby. He took it and started laughing with Matthew.

By the seventh red light, everyone had at least a piece of gold, silver, bronze, or platinum.

At the eighth red light (why were the so many red lights?), instead of precious metal coming out of the floor, a bunch of spare change flew out of the seats.

When they finally got to Half-Blood hill, the driver held out his hand expectantly. "That'll be $12.74, kiddos,"

Nico placed all of the change in the driver's hand. "Here's $7.74," he said, and held out his hand to the others.

The driver narrowed his eyes. "Hurry up, kid! Five more dollars!"

Nico turned to him. "Hey, do you accept pure gold?"

The driver's eyes widened. "Uh... um, yeah..."

Nico nodded and held his hand out to Thalia. She sighed and handed him her gold bar. He handed it to the driver, who stared at it in astonishment. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out five dollars. "Here, kid. This puppy's worth 'bout ten. Your change."

Nico nodded and slammed the door shut. Stuffing the five dollars in his pocket, he shouted, "Last one up is Minotaur shi..." he faltered under Thalia's disapproving glare. "Um, shiitake mushrooms!" Thalia flashed him a bright, white smile, and then sprinted up the hill. She ended up tied with Annabeth, closely followed by Grover, Percy, and Nico. The Chases were still at the bottom, marveling at the metals.

"Matt! Bobby! Get your butts up here!" Annabeth yelled at them.

"Coming, Annie!"

"HURRY UP!"

"Yes, ma'am!" They trotted up the hill obediently.

The demigods crossed the border into camp just as Chiron exited the Bis House. When he spotted them, he galloped over.

"Ah, I assume these are the two?"

Annabeth nodded.

"How did you find them so quickly?"

Annabeth sighed. "Chiron, I'd like you to meet Matthew and bobby Chase,"

Chiron's eyes widened.

"T-these are your half-brothers, are they not?"

"They are." Thalia confirmed.

"Do you know who their father is?" Chiron asked.

The others looked around and surveyed the crowd that had gathered around them.

"Yes," Percy said. "But it could come any moment now..."

After about two minutes of silence, there was a flash of brown light, and above each of the twins' heads was a spinning, glowing caduceus hologram.

The few people who saw them gasped and bowed, as did the five others and Chiron.

"All hail Bobby and Matthew Chase, sons of Hermes, lord of roads, travelers, mail, trade, thievery, stealth, and messengers."

Chiron turned to Grover. "Do they have weapons?"

The twins nodded. Matt pulled off his chain-sword, while Bobby unstrapped his dagger.

Chiron looked at Nico. "Stygian iron?"

"Yeah. It fits his hand. Just look," he waved at the young boy. "It's just the right side and the grip has grooves that match his hand. It's a perfect fit."

Sure enough, it did.

"But-"

"Yeah, I know it's dangerous and it shouldn't be done, but Chiron, it _fits_. Just let it slide, and I'll talk to my father."

Chiron sighed. "Fine."

He turned to Annabeth, who was gripping one of each boys' arms to make sure they didn't run off and damage or hurt someone. "Annabeth, dear, would you show them their bunks in cabin eleven?"

She nodded and led them off. "Thalia, go with them... just in case."

Thalia nodded and ran off, shouting, "Annie, wait up!" much to the other girl's annoyance.

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The next morning at breakfast, Chiron approached Annabeth, who was just getting up from her spot at the Athena table to go talk to her brothers - and now, technically her cousins, too.

"Yes, Chiron?" she asked.

Chiron looked at her, slightly gravely. "My dear young child... you do know that you will have to inform your father of this, right?"

Annabeth froze and shifted her gaze up to the cloud.

_Right,_ she thought. _My father..._

A large _BOOM!_ shook the ground, coming from the Demeter cabin's general direction, followed by two pairs of identical laughs.

She shook her head, moving her eyes up to meet Chiron's. She gave a small smile. "Yeah, my dad," she agreed. Then she pointed to the Demeter kids screaming bloody murder at the four running boys. "But that's a mission for another day. See ya, Chiron!" she yelled, dashing off towards her half-siblings.

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**And, the end! Sorry. It was pretty short, but as I mentioned earlier, I couldn't think of a great ending... so it's kinda lame, but whatevs. It's my story, ain't it?**


End file.
